Pak FS to meet Hurriyat leaders before talks

Ahead of his talks with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir will be meeting leaders of various separatist outfits from Kashmir over the next two days.

He will begin his interactions with hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani followed by a delegation of moderate Hurriyat leaders headed by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, sources said.

The meetings were earlier scheduled to be held in a five-star hotel but the plan was changed at the last minute and will now be held in Pakistan High Commission. Geelani, who has been in Delhi for over a month undergoing various medical tests including a cataract surgery, has been annoyed over Pakistan's policy on Kashmir and earlier accused Islamabad of taking a U-turn on Kashmir issue.

The Pakistan foreign secretary will later meet a delegation of moderate Hurriyat leaders which will include the Mirwaiz, Moulana Abbas Ansari, Abdul Gani Bhat, Aga Syed Hassan Al-Mousvi Al-Safvi and Bilal Lone. "The Hurriyat will brief the Pakistani foreign secretary about the prevailing political situation in Jammu and Kashmir and its viewpoint on the resolution of the Kashmir issue," a Hurriyat statement said.

The Pakistan Foreign Secretary, after meeting Rao on February 25, will later have a meeting with Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Chief Yaseen Malik at the High Commission, the sources said.